Strength
by BINthere
Summary: An Erza Scarlet character development study, up till the moment she found home.


**I guess this is something of an Erza character development study, up till the moment she realised Fairy Tail was family.**

* * *

She supposed it was because she was Erza Scarlet.

She was tough, she was strong, she was powerful.

That was to be expected of the pride of Fairy Tail.

That was to be expected of Titania, the Queen of Fairies.

She had to be invincible.

* * *

She wasn't porcelain. She wasn't meant to be kept in shelves to look at. She wasn't something you had to treasure, to guard, to protect.

She never was.

Even in her childhood, being kept as slaves meant she had to be used to harsh treatment. She got used to every lashing, every beating. She got used to being trapped in the dark. She got used to starvation.

And in turn, she learned to take joy in all the little things.

Meeting her first friend, laughing and joking around with all the children in the tower. She learned to talk, to open up more, to just relax and have fun because they were kids and what else could they do in this hellhole, Mold?

So she stood up, straightened her back, and dashed over to them, because for now, that was the most she could do.

And she enjoyed every minute of it.

Erza _Scarlet. _She liked the sound of that.

* * *

In the haze of the dust, the only thing she could see was red.

Red, red, red.

The smell of blood was everywhere and she felt like gagging.

She choked instead.

Struggling to raise her head, she thinks she catches sight of something blue, but she's tired, so, so tired, and she doesn't even bother to wonder why her view seems so limited. It's like the world had narrowed.

Funny, she doesn't remember the world like that. It had always seemed so big, so full of life.

Now the only people that catches her sight are the ones that's dead.

Leaning her head on the warmth that suddenly appeared, carrying promises of freedom and blue, so, so, blue, she decided to go along with it.

The world was crazy enough as it is.

* * *

That day, Erza Scarlet learned death.

She learned grief.

She learned hate.

She learned betrayal.

She learned never to trust someone again.

* * *

After some wandering around, she somehow found herself at one of the most famous guilds in Magnolia-none other that Fairy Tail. She was accepted without question, and quickly became one of the most promising young mages they had.

But that did not mean she had changed. No, in fact, she still had trouble talking and laughing and being one with the guild. She still had trust issues and problems making friends. She was still the girl stuck in that tower.

And for a while, she liked it that way. Not being close to anyone meant the lesser the risk of them dying to save you. It meant less pain and tears. So she kept it that way.

Kept her heart covered in armor, shielded from the world. Even though it hurt not being able to laugh like the rest do, she would keep it that way-if only just to keep it from breaking.

* * *

"Erza Scarlet, Titania," they whispered, voices full of fear and awe.

Erza Scarlet, monster.

Too powerful to touch, too strong to feel. Monster.

She lowered her eyes, and, stuffing her mouth with the strawberry cake she Natsu and Gray bought her to save them (if only temperarily) from her wrath, decided they were morons.

If that was the price of the power to protect her friends, becoming the untouchable creature everyone thought she was, she would happily pay it.

* * *

Slowly, slowly, she started warming up to people. It started with Gray, who found her at her weakest moment, lonely and crying at the riverbed, and yelled at her. He woke her up with his words, and for that she would be forever grateful for.

Natsu came soon after, because he was a little idiot who needed her beatings to smarten up (it didn't have much effect).

With Natsu came Lisanna, the little sunshine, because they were best friends, and apparently if someone is friends with you, you get to know their friends too.  
(She was learning)...

Then came her rivalry with Mirajane, which she knew they both appreciated secretly, deep down inside, as someone who could fight them and live to tell the tale, as someone who would help them improve their skills.

Slowly, slowly, she found her circle expanding wider and wider, and that she started smiling more and more.

Slowly, slowly, she realised that she started loving Fairy Tail more and more.

_Because finally, she found home._

* * *

**Just something to clear off my drafts :)**

**Please read and review!**

**-BINthere**


End file.
